10 February 08
The comments concerning marriage and divorce for Muslims by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, demonstrate a lack of understanding of the Western legal system. Laws are not made to fit populist appeal, whether they are religious or secular in nature. They exist to define the rights and responsibilities of citizens in democracies in an effort to make all equal before the law. Even though glaring anomalies exist in present legislature, the ideal is immutable.
To actually introduce a regulatory system which varies depending on ideological demands is a huge step backwards, and a sizeable chunk out of the safety net of pluralism.
The Archbishop has made a blunder of immense proportions and he must retract the ill conceived statements concerning Sharia law and apologise forthwith.
President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc, David Nicholls said. “Apparently, Dr. Williams wishes to increase the existing religious discrimination, to which it feels entitled, against women and gays etc to encompass the Muslim religion also. If all the faiths really lived up to the ethics they so proudly and loudly proclaim, bigotry would be decreased, not expanded upon.”
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